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Because Internet makes a linguist's case for l33t speak, other online-text fads
The Internet has done good things to the English language.
That's the most important thing linguist Gretchen McCulloch has to say in her book, Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. Though many prominent opinion-havers rage about the imminent death of the English language at the hands of emoji-wielding teenagers, the Internet has done no more harm to English than television, radio, or dime novels.
In fact, McCulloch makes a compelling argument that Internet language, and emoji in particular, is restoring life to the relatively emotionless medium of text. For hundreds of years, public writing was limited to formal contexts like newspapers and books, written by educated people using very formal language for the edification of other educated people. Even fiction draws a clear line between informal dialogue and formal narration. On the Internet, on the other hand, the lines are much less clear. Private, informal writing (like shopping lists or notes passed between students at the back of a classroom) is now publicly visible, and the conventions developed by individuals or small groups for writing informally can spread and interact on a global scale. To McCulloch, this is more exciting than it is scary, and reading Because Internet might convince you to feel the same.
[...] McCulloch is on a mission to make linguistics relatable—and, hear me out, she's on a roll in that respect. She does this not only through Because Internet, but also through Lingthusiasm, the podcast she co-hosts with fellow linguist Lauren Gawne. As its name suggests, Lingthusiasm shows off the hosts' enthusiasm about linguistics and calls on its listeners to get excited about a wide variety of linguistic topics, such as how vowels work, the ways people from different cultures talk about time, and why efforts to create a single world language never catch on. On Lingthusiasm, McCulloch and Gawne dispel myths about language and inspire the kind of excitement that turns curious students into scientists. And in Because Internet, McCulloch continues to demystify and delight.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 04 2019, @03:22PM (7 children)
Have you ever looked at the King James Bible?
As a quick refresher, I would point out it is filled with "thee", "thou", and numerous other obsolete language forms. 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me', 'verily I say unto thee...", etc. Enough said.
Wait, a sec!
So here and now, about 400 years later, we consider this language to be old and obsolete? But that huge financial and manpower work to translate the text, was to translate it into the common language of the people!
So if the common language of the people is now so obsolete that it is in fact difficult to understand, and obsolete, then what happened? Did the common language somehow change over 400 years? And did it do so without the intarweb tubes? Without radio? Without TV?
OMG, without the intarwebs and TV "The Death Of The English Language" already happened !!! OMG !!!
If you watch movies from the early 1900s, you see that language is perhaps a bit different, but not all that much different. An easily accessible example is the 1939 movie The Wizard Of Oz. The language is a bit different but easily recognizable.
So is them intarweb tubes really destroyifying the English language?
Is Facebook and Twitter really so bad . . . . oh, wait. Forget I asked that last question.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday November 04 2019, @04:27PM (6 children)
More like, the internet is introducing change at an unprecedented pace. Lots of people don't like change, thus lots of people are ticked off that people use l33t and pwn in what would otherwise be a serious document.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 04 2019, @04:47PM (5 children)
Ah! I think we've found the root of the problem.
Advice for those people: The ONLY thing constant is change.
I would advise them that if they expect anything to remain static forever, they are living in a fantasy.
At one time, people were ticked off that others used a computer to type up and print out what would otherwise be a serious document.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by legont on Monday November 04 2019, @05:39PM (4 children)
It may not be true. Historically people have spent most of their history in societies that changed very little (and had life quality declining). The concept of progress itself was introduced quite recently into western civilization (at the end of dark ages) and even then people found no better way but to model Roman Empire almost to the letter.
We can have an internet reset any day and spend a few millennia recovering.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 04 2019, @06:41PM (3 children)
In most of history, change was probably slower, but still present. If you looked at any segment of history would you not see some change?
Languages change. Customs change.
As new generations of people are born, they never do everything exactly the way their parents did it.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday November 04 2019, @07:38PM (1 child)
I would say that with the advent of the internet, we've greatly increased the speed of change. The telephone may have brought the world much closer, but most people still called and talked with people they knew. With the internet, you have people from every country in the world sharing their own unique perspective, all at the same time. Where, once you had to find a book to read up on Japan/Korea, do actual research for information. You go to Siri, Google, DuckDuckGo, etc. and the information is spoon fed to you.
Now, insert radical dogmas, celebrities with cult like followings, and instant access to all of it. You're going to be getting a lot of change, for better or worse, a lot faster.
One of the biggest issues I have with people promoting "Change", is that the proposed change isn't necessarily a better alternative. How do you think we got the likes of Trump? It wasn't, because we had such awesome candidates. He was the response to the change that was Obama. I'd have likely voted for LL Cool Jay, before Obama or Trump.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday November 05 2019, @02:55AM
Internet is great, but, forgive me, say adoption of fractional reserve system have done a few orders of magnitude more for change.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday November 05 2019, @02:51AM
True, but it is not what most people consider change. In medieval times the oldest son of a barber was expected to be exactly the same barber just a little bit poorer. The second son's life was somewhat more interesting as he would become a beggar or a solder, except if the oldest dies.
This scenario is way more typical for human history than current situation. I'd go as far as to say that humans are not adjusted well for change and prefer stable conditions. It's inhuman economy system - capitalism - that pushes us for change. (note that I don't attach morals or ethics to this, but consider, for example, that little change is the best for the environment)
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.